A Rocky Experience...

I finally taught a lesson using technology and it went great! On Friday, I taught a lesson on igneous rock and made a smashing PowerPoint to show my students examples of different igneous rocks. I hyperlinked certain text to different websites and teachertube videos, however, the internet was down district wide so I was unable to show those links. I will definitely hold onto the PowerPoint to use for my future teaching.

Ode to Technology

I will be using technology in the classroom this week for the Igneous Rock portion of the Rocks and Mineral unit I am doing with my students. National Geographic has a really awesome interactive volcano website. I want to show my kids some fun things from this site and then show them a PowerPoint of different types of igneous rocks. Along with the PowerPoint slides, I have tangible rocks they can touch and feel. I am confident that they will love this lesson just for the technology incorporation alone.

As for a lesson that was taught this past week that could have used technology, I think that a shared reading could have been fun if put into a PowerPoint. More pictures could have been used, slides with questions could come up in between the actual text, just fun stuff like that.

Tech. Survey

Incorporating technology into classroom teaching seems like a good idea, if you can find the time. I have realized over the past two weeks that every second of a teacher's day is crucial. There isn't a lot of time for set up and unless the technology used is captivating enough to hold 21 little bodies attentive, it may not be worth it. My mentor teacher has been teaching for 32 years. She doesn't use technology very much to teach, but does know how to get her kids working on the computers. I have not used technology yet in my teaching, but this week it is my plan to use it for my science lesson. I will be teaching about rocks and minerals and I know there are a few sites on the Internet that are way awesome. My students will think I'm pretty cool. If my teacher had used some of the things I will be using when she opened the rock and mineral unit, I think the kids would be more motivated to learn. It'll be great when I use technology to teach and maybe I'll teach my mentor teacher something new.

Technology in the Classroom

I've embarked on a new journey this week that involves 21 little people. I've begun my first practicum of teaching and it is a blast. I'm teaching the 2nd grade at Barnett Elementary in Payson. My mentor teacher has been teaching for 32 years and has a lot of great ideas; however, technology isn't her strong point. She has four computers in her classroom for her students to use, but they are rather outdated. When they complete their regular work, they are allowed to play interactive learning games. The kids really enjoy the time they have to play on the computers. Other than observing the student on the computers, that has been the only technology integration.

I have not used technology so far in the practicum. I think it is something I can bring to the classroom. My mentor teaching has not integrated it in her teaching as much as I would, so maybe I can mentor her in this aspect? I think a really cool way to do that would be to use the internet and show the kids some really cool websites. For example, my mentor teacher has given me full charge of the science rock and mineral unit. There are so many fun interactive websites highlighting rocks and minerals. There are many many options to involve technology in my classroom.